Home Ownership

You’ve negotiated a successful offer, resolved all the inspections items, and have received your Clear To Close. You are so close to ownership that you can feel the new keys in your hand. The only thing standing between you and moving into your new home is the closing table.
The following is Frequently Asked Questions about What Happens at a Closing in Florida…

WHAT IS CLOSING?

Closing (also called settlement) is the legal transfer of property ownership. Usually, but not always, possession is transferred at closing.

WHO ATTENDS CLOSINGS?

Face-to-face closings are common in most states, although Florida does not require them. Your Realtor can provide details for your situation. Since Florida has many Foreign Buyers and Sellers, you have the option of doing a “Mail Away”.
The participants usually include:• You, the buyer.• The seller.• The real estate agents representing the buyer(s)and seller(s).• The closing agent, the title insurance representative, and the escrow agent. Often one person fulfills all three roles, coordinating and recording the exchange of the documents and money, disbursing funds, and handling various closing details.

WHERE IS CLOSING HELD?

Closings are usually held at a title company’s office (in Florida, it’s typical for the seller to choose the title company since they pay for the title insurance). Their job is to confirm the current legal owner of the property, reveal any mortgages, liens, judgments or unpaid taxes on the property, and identify any restrictions that may affect the sale of the property.Any problems need to be corrected before a buyer can receive “clear title.”

WHAT DO I NEED TO BRING?

Your Realtor can advise you on what you’ll need to bring to closing, but typically buyers must provide:• Payment of closing costs• Proof of insurance• Photo ID

WHAT HAPPENS AT CLOSING?
You’ll sign many documents. Rely on your Realtor to review these documents and answer any questions you may have. Frequently-used documents include:

Truth in Lending statement – a final summary of the terms of your loan

Mortgage note – a legal obligation to repay the lender according to stated terms

Deed of trust – the legal transfer of ownership; gives the lender a claim against your home if you fail to meet the terms of the mortgage note

Affidavits – any binding statements by the buyer or seller

Riders – any contract amendments that impact your rights

Any additional documents required in your state.

Once all documents are signed and all monies have been paid and dispersed, possession is transferred and you receive the keys to your new home. Be sure to keep your closing documents in a safe place for future reference. Some of the expenses associated with your home purchase are tax-deductible.

Watch out because a good credit score may actually be bad, depending your source.

What is considered a good credit score? Well like many things in life, the definition of “good” or “bad” will vary depending on who you ask.

But with credit scoring it’s even more complicated…

More than 1,000 different scoring models?!

Yes, you read that correctly. According to Experian, by some estimates there are upwards of 1,000 or more different credit scores being used today.

Obviously you can see why this makes it difficult to answer the question “What is a good credit score number?” because first you have to ask “What type of score are you talking about?”

By far the most important type is FICO.

They were the original pioneers of scoring and have been around for several decades. When you apply for a credit card or mortgage, there’s a good chance the creditor is basing the decision on your FICO.

If you want to know how good (or bad) your score is, what you really should be doing is basing that decision on your FICO score. Because after all… why care about the 1,000+ other types when only 1 of them is clearly the dominant player?

How good is my credit score?

If you’re talking about FICO then the range runs from 300 to 850.

For years FICO used to report what the median score was but they stopped doing that a few years ago (citing it is “proprietary” information).

But up until late last decade – when they did publicly release the number – the median was 723. A median means exactly in the middle; half of the scores are higher and half are lower. It’s a more accurate measure than the average credit score.

Most sources say a good credit score range (for FICO) is somewhere between 700 and 759. And sure enough on MyFico.com they list scores within that range as likely being eligible for the same mortgage rate.

However after the financial fiasco during the latter part of last decade, what many creditors consider to be “good” is higher than the 700 benchmark.

Conclusion? Anything between 700 to 759 is within the good credit score range. However nowadays if you want to be conservative with your definition, go ahead and increase that bottom number by 10 or 20 points – i.e. 720 to 759 = good.